The Fire Next Time Unabridged Edition

This is a book to read with a pen! My copy, brand new, and fresh from the mailbox now has underlining everywhere and notes filling the margins. The language is beautiful in this book and there is a lot of wisdom to gather. This is my first James Baldwin and I crave more!The book consists of two letters, a short one written to a nephew and a longer one written to discuss his thoughts and feelings about race, religion, and life. This is the most beautiful description in the entire book. I cannot possibly think of a more exquisite way to word how James sees his brother and how we often see those we have watched grow up."Other people cannot see what I see whenever I look into your father’s face for behind your father’s face as it is today are all those other faces which were his. Let him laugh and I see a cellar your father does not remember and a house he does not remember and I hear in his present laughter his laughter as a child."Baldwin starts his letter by informing his nephew on how black people can be destroyed if they believe what some white people think about them. He discusses a hidden message telling black people to settle for mediocrity rather than striving for excellence. Baldwin believes that black people need to know their history and where they came from so that there will be “no limit to where you can go.”"…We, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it."

Growing up as the daughter of white parents in the Deep South, while my parents did everything in their power to try and keep us from using racial slurs, there was so much racism imbedded in the area that it was nearly impossible to fight it. It ranged from the blatant to the subtle, and it stuck in ways that I will probably be discovering for the rest of my life. Baldwin touches upon the use of religion to control, and the belief that the white man is the marker to which the black man should aspire, and that is still very clear in the world... As black men and women are told that their natural hair should be tamed to make them more appropriate for the work place, that the vernacular of their homes and families is somehow uneducated, even as they are surrounded by people who code-switch from a redneck southern dialect or a tough talking New York slang at home, to proper grammar in the workplace. At the end of the day, no one should aspire to whiteness. Instead, all should aspire to be the best they can be of exactly who they are.This book, brilliantly written, greatly rocked my way of thinking. James Baldwin's grasp of humanity is one of the most realistic I've ever seen. He sees it and tells it just as it is.

I am a huge fan of James Baldwin, this is the third book that I have bought from him. This is by far one of the best books written by him. I am so happy that I chose to buy this book, I do not regret a thing. It truly is astonishing how not much has changed between the races in America since 1963. James Baldwin is such an amazing writer, this book is extremely well written. The use of words in this book are utilized in a way that make you feel as though you are within Baldwin's story. Overall, buy this book if you are interested in learning in the about the history and culture of black individuals during 60s. Also, buy this book if you are interested in reading a quality book with quality writing.

James Baldwin's "The Fire Next Time" is more a brilliant, masterfully constructed Supreme Court Opinion than it is a novel. And whereas I truly loved his analysis and opinions of the Negro problem in America, I still prefer his old fashion, novels with the numerous unforgettable characters, boundary breaking storylines, and sublime and poetic writing style.In 2015, my great contemporary literary discovery was Don Delillo; and now in 2017 and 18 my great, contemporary, literary discovery is James Baldwin. Sadly, neither man ever won a Pulitzer prize and unless a miracle happens and they give Mr. DeLillo Nobel Prize neither man would have won a Nobel Peace Prize. Simply too busy giving out the prize to Bob Dylan."The Fire Next Time" might not be for everyone, but it is, in my opinion, just another wonderful addition and indication of how great a writer and thinker Mr. Baldwin truly was... And forever will be remembered as such.

As readers of my reviews know, I rarely comment on books that are well-known classics (as this is); however, I wanted to write a few lines about this book. First, it is an important historical document. Mr. Baldwin is recording life as he experienced it. I found his description of an evening with Elijah Muhammad endlessly fascinating, as I noted also his comments on Malcolm X before he broke with Muhammad. Second, there is no denying the power and passion in his prose. I have rarely come across an essay/memoir where the fire lights every page, like it does here. One may argue with some of Mr. Baldwin’s observations and conclusions and I do think the world has changed somewhat since this book was written (if, for the better, it is with some thanks to writers like Mr. Baldwin), but this is a book that still has much to offer a reader.